


The Perfect Gift

by FanficsbyVe



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 17:38:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5834659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficsbyVe/pseuds/FanficsbyVe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Undyne looks for a good birthday gift for her girlfriend Alphys. One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Perfect Gift

Having a nerd for a girlfriend was a double-edged sword.

At least, that’s how Undyne saw it. On one side, it was wonderful to have someone near who knew how to fix a computer problem or had a broad knowledge on scientific topics in general. On the other, it meant her interests were very specific and the standard romantic gifts like flowers or chocolates wouldn’t really do to tickle her nerdy fancy if you wanted to make a special gesture. The latter being the situation the fish-like monster currently found herself in. 

It was Alphys’s birthday tomorrow and here she was, still not having found the perfect gift for her girlfriend. It wasn’t for lack of trying, of course. She had traveled all over town, and a few neighboring ones, to get a new special edition figurine of Mad Magic Schoolgirls, the scientist’s latest obsession in the world of anime. She figured obtaining it would be easy enough; she had the money and how hard was it to find a figurine, especially one that was brand new?

She had swiftly found that out. It turned out everyone and their forgetful granny had the same idea of obtaining a plastic statue with oversized eyes. There was a line forming at the nearest nerdy store and she found herself at the very end of it. That was already bad enough, but it was nothing compared to when the store opened.

A whole wave of out-of-shape, meme-spouting and semi-Japanese speaking otaku rolled into the store as soon as the doors were opened. They tumbled over each other into the aisles, scattering on all fours like cockroaches in an attempt to reach the coveted object. Soon, a swarm of bootlegged T-shirts migrated towards a large tower of Mad Magic Schoolgirls figurines and Undyne knew it was now or never.

Initially, she had the upper hand. Having height, weight and actually trained muscle on her side, she managed to easily shove aside several of her rivals and advance on her target. Making a beeline for the tower, which was swiftly being reduced to a pile, she fearlessly ploughed through battalions of customers. She struck down each and everyone in her way, shrugging off any hands clinging to her ankles. She felt like a conqueror and for a moment, she could taste victory.

In the end, however, she was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. She soon disappeared in the stampede of determined nerdiness. She was swept away on the masses like a crowdsurfer at a particularly booze-filled concert and before she thoroughly understood what had happened, her butt hit the pavement outside the store once again.

By the time she had wrestled herself back inside, the previous proud tower of figurines had disappeared as if struck by a vengeful deity. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, every single one of them had already been taken away by excited fanboys. Most of those had already left again with unexplainable ninja-like stealth, leaving nothing but a large empty spot and some other trampled customers in their wake. 

While Undyne felt pissed enough to punch the nearest object, she decided to leave the thirteen-year-old snot buying shooters alone and continue her quest elsewhere. She was Undyne of the Royal Guard, after all. She was nothing if not persistent. 

That positive mentality, however, quickly vanished over the course of the day. It turned out that the otaku apocalypse had not just swept over the store she visited. Every other shop she visited was equally sold out of the desired figurine. The same held true for all the shops in the next town over and the one after that. In the end, judging from the phone call she made, her desired object was out of stock in practically the entire state and wouldn’t be replenished for at least another week.

As such, it was with a hanging head that she finally dragged herself back to their apartment as the sun went down. To say she wasn’t happy right now would be an understatement. She was tired, fed up, pissed and this time, she did punch the object nearest to her. Unfortunately, a trashcan full of rotten vegetables wasn’t as satisfying to hit as a teenaged Summoning of Service fan. 

She let out a deep sigh and leaned against a wall. What was she going to do now? She had hinged all her hopes on getting this one gift she knew her girlfriend adored. Of course, she knew she hadn’t promised Alphys anything in order to make it a surprise and her girlfriend was a reasonable person. She wouldn’t hold it against her at all if she didn’t manage to obtain it. Still, that didn’t change the fact that she wanted to make her happy and hated failure of any objective she set herself. 

Dragging herself to a nearby coffee shop for a quick cup of Joe, she started to contemplate what alternative gifts would be feasible. She could always take Alphys to that restaurant she loved or get some tickets to the nearby cosplay convention. Those should make for a fitting replacement, even if not as grandiose as what she had planned. 

As she sat there sipping the caffeine, she looked across the street. It looked like a garbage company was clearing an apartment there. It was rather shabby-looking and she wouldn’t be surprised if the occupant was some shady fellow that was evicted. She watched as several decrepit pieces of furniture were chucked into a giant dumpster. Yet as they moved on to smaller items, she spotted something being thrown in that caught her attention. 

Curiously, she walked over and looked inside the dumpster. Her eyes went wide. On top of a mountain of crap, there was an undeniable piece of treasure. It was an anime figurine, still in its box. Not the one she was looking for, sadly. If only life were that simple. Still, she could see it was a magical girl of some sort. The box was a bit flaked and busted, but the figure inside seemed to be in pristine condition.

A small, tired smile crept up Undyne’s face. She had no idea what series this thing was from, but it definitely seemed like something Alphys would enjoy. That and since it was tossed in a garbage can, she could take it for free. Though she was definitely not planning to foist her girlfriend off with a cheap gift she might dislike, it was not a bad warm-up while she arranged something better.

“Alright, magic questionably dressed schoolgirl. You’re coming with me!”

It was in a much better mood that she returned to the apartment. Craftily wrapping and hiding the gift as she came into the apartment, she greeted her girlfriend and ordered them a big pile of sushi. They then went for a giant anime marathon, deciding to wait out the hours until midnight so Undyne could give Alphys a birthday kiss.

When the clock struck midnight that was exactly what she did. After dealing her the biggest, sloppiest kiss this side of appropriate, she got up and then quickly got the gift from a nearby cupboard. She handed it over to a surprised, curious Alphys.

“I got you this today. I hope you’ll like it. Just a little something in advance for the party.”

Almost immediately, her girlfriend blushed. “Wow, t-thanks, Undyne…”

With those words, she turned to the package. Undyne saw how she opened it with trembling fingers and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous herself. This feeling only increased when Alphys suddenly froze and stared at the emerging figurine as if it were a ticking time bomb.

“I-is that…”

As badly as that statement applied to her, Undyne remained as mute as a fish. She had no idea what to answer to what might be a rhetorical question. She sure as hell wasn’t going to say she had found this thing in a dumpster and had no idea what it even was. Yet just when she swore she was starting to hear crickets, Alphys let out a squeal so high-pitched it would make a genki girl green with envy. 

It was so loud and kept going for so long Undyne started to get worried. She reached out to her and pounded her back. When Alphys was finally out of breath, she started wheezing as if she were about to have a seizure and the fish monster seriously wondered if she should call emergency services.

“Alphys? Alphys, what’s wrong? Come on, Alphys! Breathe! Deep breaths! I’ll kill you if you die on me on your birthday!”

Alphys, on the other hand, blissfully ignored that threat and started screaming as soon as her lungs had air again. “This is a First Edition Princess Kitty Sunfield from Lunar Mariner! These were issued back in the nineties when the manga and anime came out! This…this is a find! A true collector’s item!”

Undyne simply sat there as if she had failed to supplex a boulder and took it to the face. For a moment, she was sure Alphys somehow caught on to where she got this and was just messing with her. Still, the shrieks continued to increase in volume and her girlfriend was rattling off an encyclopedia’s worth of info on this supposedly old, well-known series as well as its merchandise. Knowing Alphys was as well-versed in this subject as she was in her day job, Undyne was slowly starting to believe the gift was, in fact, a success.

Briefly, her mind went blank. Was this really happening? After all the nonsense she went through today? Had she really managed to fish something incredibly rare and valuable out of a freaking trashcan? Then again, seeing who she was dating, she had done it before…

By now, her girlfriend was skipping all over the couch. The fish monster’s brain only returned to present day when the box was shoved in her face. She watched how the other woman was beaming, her eyes sparkling.

“Where did you even get this? It’s amazing…”

For a moment, Undyne considered telling her the truth but then thought better of it. She doubted Alphys would even believe it and if she did, she didn’t want her to spend her birthday ranting at people callously throwing their nerdy stuff away. Sometimes it was better not to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

“I just got lucky.”

Thankfully, her girlfriend readily accepted this answer and kissed her again. “Anyway, it’s gorgeous. Seriously, I feel like my heart’s about to come out of my chest. Thank you, Undyne… Thank you so much.”

All Undyne could do at that was flash the biggest grin she could. She had done it. After all the trials and tribulations she went through today, she had managed to find Alphys something she adored. It felt like a huge accomplishment to see her this happy, one she would cherish all her life. 

She cuddled up to the reptile monster, who was holding the figurine like it was a beloved plushie, and they proceeded to watch the rest of the anime together. The big party would only be tomorrow. Undyne had invited everyone over and would be happy to see them, but right now, they could have some quality time, but now and later under the covers. 

She was content with that. While she was glad that shy Alphys could bask in the love and attention from her friends, she loved having her girlfriend to herself as well. And knowing she could make her smile as brightly as she did tonight, she could think of nothing better than just celebrating her birthday together.


End file.
